The Heritage of Towmotor*

The TOWMOTOR CORP. was founded in 1919 by LESTER M. SEARS when he unveiled the prototype of the gasoline-powered industrial tractor that revolutionized materials handling. By 1935 a plant had been established in Cleveland to produce Towmotors--compact units with a pair of forward forks on hydraulic lifts and a carefully balanced rear end. These were considered essential cost-saving equipment and company sales doubled during the Depression. During World War II and the Korean War, stateside and overseas sales of Towmotor units to unload ships were brisk. In the 1950s and 1960s, Towmotor introduced new models and acquired companies with products that expanded lift capacity.

When the CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO. of Peoria, IL, completed a merger with Towmotor in 1963, the firm was a stable company with established worldwide markets and local employment of over 1,500. Caterpillar phased out the Cleveland plant operations when Caterpillar merged and became Mitsubishi-Caterpillar (MCFA) in 1992, In 1993 towmotors, under the Caterpillar name, were still being produced in Houston, TX at the MCFA plant operations.

*Archives at Case Western Reserve University

Did you know that ‘TOWMOTOR’ for many decades was the common reference to any brand forklift much like 'xerox' commonly refers to a copy or copier.